Image copyrightThames Valley PoliceImage caption
Anum and Majid Khan died in the Magdalen Road fire in August 1997

A woman conspired to start a house fire that killed two children as part of a revenge attack, a jury heard.

Fiaz Munshi, of Manley Road, Oldham, is accused of being involved in the arson attack in Magdalen Road, Oxford, which killed Majid Khan, 15, and his sister Anum Khan, eight.

The trial at Oxford Crown Court heard the siblings' brother Amjad had broken off his relationship with Ms Munshi, 38, before the attack in 1997.

Ms Munshi denies two counts of murder.

The court heard Amjad's family did not approve of his relationship with Ms Munshi, who is accused of travelling to the Khans' house in Oxford from Stevenage with seven others and conspiring to start the blaze.

The jury were told that petrol in two soft drinks bottles was squirted through the letterbox and then set alight at the family home in Cowley, Oxford, shortly after 03:00 BST on 26 August 1997.

Seven people were in the house at the time of the fire and five had to jump from the first-floor window to escape.

Prosecutor Neil Moore said Ms Munshi was "exceptionally close to the plan and it was inconceivable she wasn't part of it".

He added Ms Munshi "held a grudge against the Khan family" and she was "hostile on the night of the attack".